By Liz Stahl, Extension Educator – Crops, Jochum Wiersma, Extension Small Grains Specialist, and Fabian Fernandez, Extension Nutrient Management Specialist The status of nitrogen for this year’s crop, sidedressing tips, and small grains disease and insect pests were discussed on the June 4, University of Minnesota Extension Strategic Farming: Field Notes program. Drs. Fabian Fernandez, Nutrient Management Specialist, and Jochum Wiersma, Small Grains Specialist, discussed these issues with moderator UMN Extension Crops Educator, Claire LaCanne. Nitrogen status A lack of snow cover, frost, or soil moisture this spring left us with soils with a lot of water storage capacity and little chance of runoff. Any precipitation we have received so far has essentially been staying in the soil, leading to less potential for nitrogen (N) losses. Specifically, N losses due to denitrification (a key source of N loss in saturated soils) or nitrate leaching (when nitrate-N is lost through the soil p...
Today on the Advancing Nitrogen Smart podcast series, Brad and Dan tell us how the Maximum Return to Nitrogen (MRTN) approach to N rate recommendations is calculated. What does the MRTN actually measure for farmers? What's the reason the MRTN recommendations were created? What kind of / how many rate trials are used to build the dataset? Does the MRTN rate recommendation approach work well in all Minnesota regions? Brad and Dan cover this and more on today's show. TRANSCRIPT Guests: Brad Carlson, Extension educator (Mankato) Dan Kaiser, Extension nutrient management specialist (St. Paul) Additional resources: Corn Rate Calculator What to know about the Maximum Return to Nitrogen (MRTN) approach to corn N rate guidelines The history of N rate recommendations in Minnesota: What farmers should know Nitrogen Smart --- Click here to listen to all Advancing Nitrogen Smart podcast episodes. For the latest nutrient management information, subscribe to the Nutrient Management Podcas...